Muddled Up, Shook Up World
by Kieran Barton
Summary: Clint works in a record store across the street from an ice cream shop. Does he go in every Friday for his waffle cone or the girl behind the counter?


Clint finished closing the cash register and took a quick walk through of the music store to make sure most of the albums were in their proper places. The last customer of the day had been a petite blonde looking for Styx Greatest Hits. She found the CD in a matter of minutes and paid, leaving Clint to do his closing time chores. He grinned, looking out the window of the store to the ice cream shop across the street. He locked the door behind himself and pushed on it to double check the locks, and proceeded to jaywalk to the other side.

The setting sun highlighted buildings and sidewalks in orange, and the May temperature slowly descended into the low 50s. He pressed against the door and it opened with a tinkle, digging into his back pocket for his wallet as the woman behind the glass case of ice cream raised her head. Spearmint eyes met Clint's and his stomach flipped like it always did when he looked at her.

"It's very nearly clockwork, the way you come in every Friday at eight-fifteen," she spoke in that ambiguous voice of hers. That wasn't the only thing about her that sometimes made it difficult to tell; her face was androgynous and she didn't really have breasts. But there was something irresistible about her that made Clint come back every Friday.

"What can I say? I need to have my cake batter ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough at least once a week." Clint stepped up next to the impeccably clean glass that shielded the sixteen tubs of ice cream, from rainbow sherbet to coffee flavored, watching Loki's wrist as she scraped out a perfect round scoop of cake batter ice cream. So maybe the cake batter ice cream wasn't the only thing motivating him to come in every Friday. He yawned and counted out sixty-two cents in his hand as she moved on to top it with cookie dough chunks before handing it to him over the counter. They walked down to the end of the counter, stopping at the register.

"I suppose by now you do not need to be told how much it costs?" Loki pressed a few buttons on the register as Clint handed her $4.62 for the ice cream.

"I guess not," he smiled and dropped two more dollars into the tip jar before taking a seat at a two-chair table near the window. The same one he sat in every Friday. He picked this table thirty-one Saturdays ago; twenty-six Saturdays ago he started wishing Loki would sit in the other empty chair. Of course, he hadn't really said anything about it. Maybe he should change that. Before he could ask, Loki stepped out from behind the counter, and Clint's heart pounded. Had she read his mind?

Instead, she went to the closet in the corner of the shop and came out with a broom.

"I hope you do not get the impression I am trying to rush you," she said as she started sweeping the checkered floors. "I just figured you wouldn't mind if I started closing up the shop so I could go home ten minutes early."

"I don't mind at all," Clint replied, pink in his cheeks from thinking Loki would actually sit with him. He chewed up another piece of cookie dough before getting an idea. He inhaled the rest of his ice cream and kicked himself for not doing this sooner. He went around the shop as Loki was finishing up sweeping and wiping the counters down, picking up chairs and putting them upside down on the tables. "And I hope you don' t mind if I get you home fifteen minutes earlier than usual?" He grinned as the last chair was stacked and the shop was more or less ready to be closed for the evening.

"I can't say that would bother me too terribly," Loki returned the smile as she crossed the shop to return the broom to its closet.

"Can I use one of these pens?" Clint questioned about the pink striped pens at the counter.

"That _is_ what they are there for," Loki answered, on another side of the shop, hanging up her yellow apron for the day.

"Ha ha," Clint stuck his tongue out at her before uncapping a pen and scrawling something down on a napkin. He gave her a mock salute before exiting the shop. "See you next Friday."

Loki unfolded the napkin to find Clint's name and number inked onto its surface. She smiled and tucked it into the pocket of her pants.


End file.
